Mortality
by watermelloncat
Summary: When New York is plagued by demon attacks, will Alec keep fighting or let the flu knock him down? Based on the TV show, but don't worry - I am getting cultured and have nearly finished the book series.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: **__I started writing this a few months back, so don't let it surprise you if my writing style changes a bit. I have finished the entire story so I thought I'd start off by posting the first couple of chapters at once. I'm going to try and post the other chapters weekly, but who knows, I might get excited and post them sooner than expected._

_Hope you guys enjoy, I really loved writing this one._

...

Sighing, Alec rubs the heels of his hands over his eyes, willing the faint red lines to go away. He braces his hands on the edge of the sink as he studies his reflection in the mirror of his small bathroom. Tired lines sink hollows into the surface of his face, setting off contrast with his skin tone. He is only slightly washed out; he hopes that maybe no one will notice. An involuntary sniffle disrupts him from his thoughts.

"Shit" he brings his wrist up to his nose and sniffles more heavily.

After detaching his other hand from the rim of the sink he makes his way through the doorway to his bedroom, grabbing his leather jacket off the bed before wondering the halls to the weapons room.

He was thankful to arrive when it was empty, that way he could set about busying himself with preparing for the morning's mission before someone came to bother him. His peace alone only lasted a few minutes before the distinct sound of high heels began to echo through the hallways.

Alec is midway through strapping on his braces and scabbards when Isabelle struts into the room. "You're here early" she says brightly, reaching for her own scabbards hanging on the wall.

"Couldn't sleep" Alec says.

"You look tired" Isabelle doesn't miss the tired lines shinning against her brother's skin.

"Probably because I couldn't sleep" he replies, his tone disinterested.

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

Alec did know. He'd spent most of the night tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, and wondering how long he could go without swallowing since something in his throat was trying to tear him apart from the inside out.

"Are you having nightmares?" Isabelle keeps pushing, although her tone is sympathetic.

"No, just trust me that I'm fine!"

"What's going on in here?" Jace speaks carefully knowing he'd walked into an argument, coming to lean against the doorway.

"Nothing" Alec is quick to interject. "Where's Clary?"

"She's on her way" Jace says turning around to face Alec. "Whoa, you're looking tired."

"We've established that already" Alec tightens the strap of his arm brace somewhat forcefully, "I'll be fine after some coffee."

The coffee only made him shaky, he determined as much as he walked down the streets of the Upper West Side with Clary.

Aldertree had arranged the four of them in pairs for the mission. No one was happy about it. Understandably, Alec and Isabelle fight sometimes when paired together. But none of them understood why he split Jace and Alec up. Or why he didn't put Clary with Jace since he's their best fighter and she is the least experienced. This was the option that made the least sense.

Clary looks over her shoulder at Alec who is beginning to trail behind her. Which is unusual considering the difference in their leg lengths, she thinks as she slows down for him to catch up.

She was about to tease him and throw him back his line of _'don't slow me down'_ when she saw him silently duck his head towards his chest.

"Was that a sneeze?" Clary smirks slightly.

"Mm" Alec gives her a tired confirmation.

"Why do you do it like that?" Alec is a big guy and for him to sneeze without volume, Clary has to stop herself from laughing.

"Habit" Alec shrugs.

"Habit?" Clary repeats.

Alec sniffs before explaining, "if you're on a hunt and you don't want to give away your position, you wouldn't want it to be ruined by some loud and obnoxious noise, would you?"

Clary shakes her as Alec turns away to soundlessly tuck his head into his shoulder. "Bless you."

"I wouldn't bother with that" Alec mumbles.

Clary wanted to ask him if it was because he already had Angel blood, but thought better of it. He didn't really look like he was in a joking mood.

"Are you alright?" Clary interrupts the silence that had fallen between them. "You look tired."

"I'm fine. And I've been told that many times today" Alec almost sounded like he was complaining.

"Well, maybe because it's true."

At Clary's words Alec stops in his tracks. "If you're that desperate to make small talk, I suggest that you change the topic" he tries to keep his voice level but he can feel himself getting angrier by the second.

"Okay?" Clary's eyes go wide, but she doesn't apologise. She's done apologising for caring about people. "Tell me about Ravener demons then. I know I've seen one but I don't know much about them."

At this Alec seems to relax a little, his shoulders dropping and his face in less of a scowl. "I'm taking it you remember what they look like?"

Clary nods.

"Primarily, they're a breed of assassins that can be summoned by Warlocks to capture or kill their targets" Alec explains.

"Warlocks, like Magnus?" Clary asks.

"No!" Alec's eyes widen. "Well, yes. But not exactly" he corrects.

"I get what you mean" Clary assures him.

"They travel in hoards because they're not all that intelligent" Alec says as he slows to a stop at the corner of a building. '

Clary stops next to him, peering around the corner herself. She can't see anything apart from a row of abandoned storefronts with rickety windows and paint chipping away.

"The trail's getting stronger. Wait here while I check it out" Alec commands.

"I can come with you" Clary insists, taking a step forward.

"_Wait_ here" at the tone of Alec's voice Clary finds herself frozen to the spot and she watches as he walks away from her.

It had only been a little over a minute before Alec returns to find Clary leaning with her back against the building wall. "The trail ends a few buildings down," Clary notices immediately how much clearer Alec's voice sounds than before, she notes he must have been coughing while he was gone. "Come on."

Clary follows Alec along the street, creeping quietly until they come to the entrance of an alleyway. "I can't see anything" Clary says, her eyes scanning up the walls of the building to the dark clouds in the sky.

"The trail stops here, keep your eyes out" Alec tells her as he notches an arrow.

At seeing Alec ready his weapon, adrenaline begins to surge through Clary's veins and she feels her heart beat hard in her chest.

Before she fully grasps what's happening, Clary hears the sound of an arrow fly before it hits a demon climbing down a wall of the alley.

Alec watches as the body crumples in on itself during its descent, disappearing before it hits the ground. Notching another arrow, he hears a growl from behind him.

Turning around he sees another Ravener in the entrance to the alleyway. "Clary, behind you!" he warns her, but she seems to be looking at something else.

"Clary!" the words tear at Alec's throat. For a horrifying second, he thinks she's gone into shock and he won't be able to save her in time.

Blinking herself out of whatever daze she was in, Clary yells, "Alec! Left wall!" before whipping around to face the demon behind her.

On instinct he immediately pivots back around to find a third demon climbing down the left wall of the alley. He retreats back a few steps as the demon climbs down the remainder of the wall onto solid ground. His eyes focusing in on the demon, he aims his arrow at the spot between its multiple eyes. Before he can release the arrow the Ravener's tail whips out from the side, sending it straight towards his lower legs.

Jumping back, Alec's breath catches and he tries to hold back coughs in the back of his throat, repositioning the arrow. Quickly realising that he can't aim when his lungs are convulsing, he throws down his bow and draws out his own seraph blade.

Releasing coughs into his free arm, Alec fends off the third Ravener's attack, side stepping and swinging his blade at its claws and multiple legs as they lash out at him. Clary watches on, she'd managed to get in a few hits with her blade before her Ravener stabbed itself with its own tail. Although, it had managed to cut into her forearm with one of its barbs, but no poison touched her so she was in no immediate danger.

She stared in amazement as Alec, still unable to get a proper breath in, advanced on the third demon. He strode forward lifting his blade high before drawing the point down through the Ravener's tail, pinning it to the ground. The demon's scream echoed off the walls of the alley, it's poisonous mouth wide open. In one smooth motion Alec withdrew the blade from the tail and slashed through the Ravener's poison sack, sending the green liquid spilling out in a puddle around the demon, mid scream.

"How did you do that?" Clary was dumbfounded, as Alec walked towards her, careful to step around the slick of poison and the disintegrating demon.

"They're stupid. Your one killed itself" Alec points out.

It wasn't really what Clary meant. See couldn't understand how anyone could defend themselves without being able to maintain a sufficient supply of oxygen. But before she could clarify Alec spoke again.

"You're hurt."

"Oh… yeah" Clary thought she sounded pretty dumb in that moment, suddenly remembering that the demon had cut her, not that Alec seemed to notice.

"Here, hold out your arm" Alec instructed as he pulled his Steele out from his jacket pocket.

Clary held out her arm, noticing that although the cut wasn't that deep, her blood mixed with the newly falling rain making streaks like a watercolour. Carefully Alec took her wrist and he began tracing the shape of an iratze.

At the contact of their skin Clary could feel the heat radiating from Alec. Also noticing how his breathing seemed uneven and hearing him sniffle sharply. Looking up at him in concern, she saw a look of determination on his face, his jaw set. It was clear that he was holding back a sneeze, but he needed to finish the iratze before he would allow his body to give in.

As soon as the rune glows and starts to sink into her skin, Alec abruptly curls into his elbow, twisting away from her, "_hih'ch_." He sniffles into his sleeve as he turns back around.

"Is it working?" his voice is so congested it's almost past the point of recognition.

"Yeah, it is" Clary says as she watches the last of the laceration close.

She looks up after hearing Alec sniffle again to see him running a hand through his wet hair. "We need to get you back to the Institute" Clary declares, desperately wanting to get Alec out of the rain.

"We've still got to finish up here" Alec reminds her.

She sighs and crosses her arms over her chest, trying to keep in as much warmth as she can. Reluctantly she nods, not wanting to return back to the Institute with the mission left unfinished. "Alright" she sighs, "I'll call Izzy and see how she and Jace are doing."

Within a minute, Alec is checking for more tracks and for any clues to who might have summoned them, while Clary is pacing under the shelter of a building trying to keep warm while on the phone to Isabelle.

Unlike Clary and Alec's mission, they had found the demons they were tracking in a populated area. Which made for a more complicated situation as they had to lure the demons out from the civilian crowds.

"Izzy and Jace are on their way back to the institute" Clary told Alec as she pocketed her phone.

"How many did they get?" Alec asked, surveying the claw marks the Raveners made in the side of the buildings when they had climbed down them.

"Four, Izzy sounded disappointed" Clary smirked a little. "Have you found anything?"

"No, nothing" Alec shook his head, stepping back from the wall.

"Alright then" Clary said brushing the wet hair out of her face, "let's head back."


	2. Chapter 2

They met on the steps leading up to the Institute. It was almost like a movie with Clary running into Jace's arms in the rain. Alec trailed behind her much slower.

"Alec" Isabelle sighs, stepping forward and placing her hand around the back of his neck. "You're burning."

Over the course of the hunt Alec had become paler and his fever had started to show in spots on his cheeks.

"Is it only a fever?" Isabelle asks, moving the back of her hand to his cheek.

"I'm fine, Iz" Alec tries, but the sound of his voice gave away all pretendences, sounding like he had been swallowing glass.

"You're really not, Alec" Isabelle shook her head. "Let's get you inside."

"You'd think two of the best Shadowhunters in this institute would be more familiar with our practices." Aldertree's words are their reception into the Institute as he struts through the hallway towards them. "Do you know how many lives you put in danger?"

Jace scoffs, shaking his head, as they walk past him into the Ops Centre. Isabelle had told Clary over the phone that in order to kill the demons they were tracking; they had had to capture the largest one with her whip to lure the other demons away from the mundane crowds.

"The Clave is eligible to punish you for misconduct" Aldertree insists as he follows them to a stop in the debrief area.

At this Isabelle laughs, "for what? Doing our job?"

Clary bites her lip as a shiver wracks her body. She looks around at the rest of them, seeing that they're not fairing much better from the rain. Jace can only be seen shivering by the slight quake of his jaw and Izzy's lips are purple from the blue tinge under her red lipstick. Alec has his hands on Izzy's arms trying to warm her up but his hands are shaking so much that they nearly jump off her. Clary pulls her jacket tighter as if it would help at all, she can tell that their patience with Aldertree is wearing thin.

"That may be true but as Shadowhunters we have the responsibility to _protect_ the mundanes" Aldertree reminds as he rounds the group to stand back in front of them.

"That's what we were doing" Jace speaks next. "Or would you have preferred for us to slaughter the demons in amongst the crowd?"

The Head of the Institute was about to respond only to be cut off by Alec beginning to cough miserably into his elbow, turning away from Isabelle who turned around and placed her hand on his arm.

"And you," Aldertree addresses Alec, "went on a mission when you are so obviously ill."

Alec clears his throat before speaking, "and what was I supposed to do? Let Clary go alone? It was an early morning mission, there was no time to arrange any sort of cover."

"You understand," Aldertree instructs, "you not only put your and your partner's lives in danger, but you risked the potential for the demons to get away."

"Hey now, wait just a second!" Clary interrupts, eyeing Aldertree distastefully. "Alec was amazing, he killed two demons singlehandedly while mine killed itself."

Her superior fixed her with a smug smile, "then the both of you were very lucky." He then turned to Alec, "Mr Lightwood, we will discuss your judgement later. You are dismissed."

"Institute regulations say we have to stay together for debrief" Alec points out.

"I'm going to make an exception. Can't have you infecting the entire institute."

Alec looks like he wants to argue.

"Just get to bed buddy" Jace pleads, putting a hand on Alec's shoulder. At the words of his Parabatai Alec gives in, dropping his head as he walks away.


	3. Chapter 3

Groups of Shadowhunters buzz around the Ops Centre while Isabelle, Jace and Clary lean over one of the tables, looking at a hologram of the city.

"Why do we have to download the coordinates if they're already in the system?" Clary asks.

"Aldertree's never going to give us the clearance to figure out who's behind the attacks" Isabelle explains.

"So, we'll have to figure it out outside of the Institute" Jace clarifies, on the same wavelength as Isabelle.

"Unfortunately, there's no technology like this outside of the Institute so we'll have to go back to using the good old-fashioned maps" Isabelle sighs.

"But don't they have some kind of database security system?" Clary asks, "surely they'd be able to track download history?"

"They can" Jace says as he continues typing in commands, his eyes remaining fixed on the screen.

"Lucky for us, Jace is fantastic with computers" Isabelle smiles.

Within seconds the smile drops from her face, as she sees Alec making his way through the Ops Centre towards them. It had only been a couple of hours since their debrief with Aldertree, nowhere near enough time for him to have gotten enough sleep in order to be feeling better.

"What are you doing up? You should be in bed" Isabelle wished she could be angry at him, but she couldn't.

"Couldn't stay there during all this just because I'm a little sick" Alec says softly, in a mixture of tiredness and his voice failing him.

Isabelle shoots him a look.

"Hey, at least he admitted that he's somewhat sick" Jace smirks, earning himself his own pointed look.

"I can go see Magnus, find out if he knows anything" Alec insists, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, a clear signal that he's cold.

Isabelle's face changes to a pleading expression as she looks at Jace again.

Jace sighs and drops his head. "Come on buddy" he says grabbing Alec's arm and pulling him away from the girls, "let's go have a chat."

With the security system bypassed, Isabelle bussies herself with finishing the download of coordinates, while Clary watches the conversation between Jace and Alec up on the platform, the two leaning against the railing.

It warms her heart to see Jace regard his Parabatai with such care, his hand on Alec's arm with his thumb tracing back and forth as he talks to him. She notes the sympathetic expression on his face and knows he's speaking in a soft tone. Although, she has no idea where the conversation is going. It's not until she sees a startled look cross Alec's face that she knows something Jace has said took effect.

"What did you say to him?" Clary asks Jace as he comes back to her after he'd sent Alec away.

"What did I say to him when?" Jace asks.

"Right before he changed his mind."

A mischievous smile crossed Jace's face, "I asked him if he really wanted Magnus to see him like this."

"That's a bit of a low blow" Clary observed.

"Worked, didn't it?"

...

"Ah, Shadowhunters" Magnus exclaims opening his door with his arms extended out. "Come in."

They all greet him in their own way as they pass by him, Jace gives him a clasp on the arm, Clary offers him a smile and utters a hurried "hi," Isabelle gives him a quick peck on the cheek.

As they file into the centre of the loft, Magnus tentatively closes the door. "Where's Alexander?" his voice is hesitant.

"He's laid-up" Jace says as he turns back around to face the Warlock.

"Poisoned? Injured?" Magnus lists.

"Fever, among other things" Jace clarifies, "probably the flu or something."

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that" Magnus's voice is small.

The group doesn't fail to notice how his energy seems to have dropped since his discovery that Alec wouldn't be joining them. A mixture of sadness and disappointment showing across his face. But with Magnus never being one to put on a dispirited face in front of guests, the expression is quickly wiped away. Replaced with a smile and brighter eyes as he claps his hands, "shall we?"


	4. Chapter 4

"You wanted to see me?" Alec croaks as he walks through the door into Aldertree's office. Minutes earlier Raj had woken him from a restless sleep, informing him that Aldertree wanted to see him.

"Ah yes, Mr Lightwood. I have a job that needs doing" Aldertree turns around from his placement looking out the stained-glass window. "I was going to ask another member of your group, but seeing as they have all seemingly disappeared, the task has fallen to you."

"What is it?" Alec refused to admit that he wasn't really feeling up to it. A few hours alone in solitude has shown him how terrible he truly feels.

"I need you to speak with Lucian Graymark regarding the Ravener attacks" Aldertree informed walking towards Alec.

"You think he has something to do with them" Alec was able to read between the lines, anger seeping into his voice.

"Not necessarily" Aldertree stops in front of Alec, clasping his hands together, "but as our duty to the Clave, we have to evaluate every option."

Alec bites his tongue against every rebuttal he wishes to say, instead, he nods his head and makes for the door.

Alec feels dead on his feet when he walks into The Jade Wolf, his only solace is that Luke is a friend and he trusts him to be honest with him. Hopefully they could get this over with quickly.

"Alec? Is someone hurt?" Luke asks, immediately on high alert. He didn't think of Alec as someone who would stop by for something as simple as a casual conversation.

Alec tiredly shakes his head, coming to meet Luke in the centre of the restaurant. By his languid posture, Luke assumes he's just been on a hunt, perhaps one that didn't end so well.

"Are you alright?" Luke examines, up close he can see the grey lines drawn over Alec's face.

"Yeah, fine" Alec mutters and lies through his teeth.

"Aldertree been working you all too hard?" Luke doesn't believe him for a second. He's spent enough time around people to be able to figure out when they're sick.

"Demons more like it" Alec corrects.

"The Raveners?" Luke inquires.

"You know about them?"

"I've heard bits and pieces. Heard they've been causing quite a problem."

Alec nods his head in agreement, closing his eyes tiredly.

"Is that what you're here about?" Luke continues when Alec doesn't say anything. "Do you need for the pack to help patrol the streets?"

Alec's eyes snap back open, "no, that's not why I'm here. We couldn't ask that of you, your numbers are already small."

"Suppose they are" Luke admits as he looks around at the few figures milling around the restaurant. "What is it that you need?"

"Aldertree wants to know what you know about the attacks" Alec informs.

"He thinks I'm guilty?" Luke asks and Alec can tell he doesn't mean it as a question.

"He denied it when I alluded that to him" Alec confesses.

"They're summoned by Warlocks, surely he knows that?" Luke points out.

"Everyone knows that. That's why I don't know why you'd have anything to do with it, but Aldertree wants to tie off loose ends" Alec replies.

"I only know some of the locations and roughly how many demons, nothing that you wouldn't know already. I thought you'd ask someone like Magnus" – Luke stops when he hears Alec take in a deep breath.

"Sorry, excuse me" Alec mutters as he turns away from Luke into the back of his wrist, _"heh'chh."_ Turning back around he shoves his hands into his pockets, shoulders hunched while he looks down at the floor.

"Surely he would know who would be better to investigate" Luke continues as Alec sniffles softly. He takes pity on the boy, seeing him so clearly unwell and probably running around rampant trying to stop the demon activity.

"Jace, Izzy and Clary have already gone to see him" Alec informs him.

"Have you heard back from them?" Luke asks.

Alec shakes his head tiredly.

"I'll let you know if anything comes up," Luke rounds off, wanting the conversation to come to a close for Alec's sake. "I'll ask around some of the other packs, see if they know anything."

"Thank you" Alec's voice is quiet, but still meaningful.

"You need any help getting back to the Institute?"

"I'll be fine" Alec assures.

"Look after yourself" Luke says putting a hand on Alec's arm.

Alec nods a goodbye before taking his leave.

Luke's eyes remain on him while he exits the restaurant, "poor boy."


	5. Chapter 5

Magnus's table is strewn with coordinates of New York's demon activity throughout the recent weeks. Hands carefully guide each page into sorted piles around the table's edge, leaving a blank map of New York in its centre.

"We should start with the attacks in Manhattan, then branch out" Jace says before his phone begins buzzing from his pocket. "It's Alec" he mutters mostly to himself as he straightens up and walks away from the table.

"Hey, you alright?" Jace answers while Clary and Isabelle start marking out the locations. Magnus remains still, focusing on listening to Jace's side of the conversation. He can hear a muffled voice answering back but he can't make out what it's saying.

"Yeah, we're still at Magnus'… What! why?" Jace's voice suddenly changes from sounding gentle and sympathetic, to becoming protective and somewhat angry.

"Where are you now?" Jace runs a hand through his hair, beginning to pace a line by the window.

"Whoa, Alec" the groups' ears prick up, hearing muffled coughing transmitting through the speaker. Magnus stands up from his seat near the table, but he doesn't move further, choosing to stare at Jace's phone.

"Alec, take a minute… Just breathe, buddy, just breathe" Jace coaches gently.

"Is he okay?" Clary asks when Jace returns to the table, "you sounded angry."

"Aldertree sent him out to question Luke about the attacks" Jace shakes his head as he pockets the phone.

Clary hears Isabelle mutter something incomprehensible in Spanish, looking like she wants to punch something. She herself isn't sure what to be angrier about, Aldertree sending Alec out, or him accusing Luke of treason.

"He's on his way, he should be here in a few minutes."

By the time they hear the door open a fair amount of progress has been made. The locations, dates and times of the demon attacks have been marked, with Isabelle and Clary finishing them off by circling the outskirts of the attacks and writing the casualties recorded. Jace has taken on the role of leader and Magnus has been quite happy to hang back until he is needed.

"My dear Alexander, how are you?" Magnus greets as Alec walks into the room. His usual arrowlike posture has become slumped and his eyes are now slightly watery and irritated.

"I've been better" Alec nods to Magnus in greeting. "Luke's said that he's going to ask around the other packs, see if we can find more information that way" Alec changes the subject quickly, joining the others at the table.

"Most of the attacks seem to be located around Park Slope" Jace says with his fingers tracing the overlapping boundary marks on the map. "Any ideas?"

"There is a Warlock bar in the area, although that doesn't necessarily narrow down suspects" Magnus points a black painted fingernail to a spot on the map.

"How come we don't know about it?" Jace furrows his brow, wondering why the Institute doesn't have it registered in its database.

"Let us just say that the Warlock who owns it, isn't exactly a fan of Shadowhunters" Magnus confesses.

"Why don't I know about it either?" Clary puts in. "I know Park Slope like the back of my hand and I've never seen it."

"Concealment spells, my dear."

"But even after I got the sight I -."

"There are some spells that can mask even the talents of the Nephilim" Magnus interrupts with a raise of his hand. "I can get you there, it may be troublesome, but I won't be able to come in with you." Magnus declares while acutely aware of Alec having stepped back from the table with a small intake of breath.

"hep…" he'd ducked his head into his chest in a silent sneeze, before bringing the backs of his fingers up to his nose "he'tchh… he'mmpt." Straightening back up, he sniffles quietly into the back of his hand, careful not to be a distraction from Magnus' talking.

With Jace taking the topic of the conversation away with whether there are any patterns to the attacks, Magnus immediately takes pity on the boy. Turning towards Alec, still sniffling softly, he conjures him a handkerchief and presses it into his hands.

Alec fixes him with a nod in thanks before taking himself down the hallway for privacy. Magnus smiles to himself, finding it amusing how Alec, as much of a competent leader as he is, is still too shy to deal to his nose in front of others.

When Alec returns to the room, Magnus catches his eye as he pulls out a chair for him. He's secretly grateful for the gesture, regardless of the fact that Magnus' eyes show that it isn't an offer, he doubts his legs can hold him up for too much longer.

Slouching forwards over the table he rests his head in his hands, elbows braced on the table. In the back of his mind he can hear Jace saying that the majority of the attacks a line with the moon cycle and Magnus replying that it may connect with a summoning ritual. "But at this stage it could be a mere coincidence without additional information" he continues as he places cold hands on Alec's shoulders, letting them cool the fever on his neck.

Alec sighs in contempt, closing his eyes involuntarily behind his fingers. Even in seeing only blackness, he knows that the rest of the group are staring at him worriedly. He can tell they want to wrap this up quickly for his sake as they quickly begin exchanging details of how to infiltrate the Warlock club.

Finding it hard to follow along through the haze of tiredness, Alec only manages to pick up that Magnus had been invited to some sort of celebration at the club and was allowed to bring along a small entourage, which they were to pose as. Though, he would not be joining them because of the nature of the mission, not wanting to risk ruining his reputation with his fellow Warlocks. But it was hard for Alec to comprehend with everything sounding like it was underwater.

"Right" the commanding tone of Jace's voice brought Alec back to the surface. "We need to get back to the Institute" he instructed the group rising out of his chair, Isabelle and Clary following suit. By this time, it was clear to them that if they stayed any longer Aldertree would become more suspicious about their whereabouts. "Come on big brother" Izzy came over to Alec and gave him a hand out of his chair, before guiding him to the door to join the rest of their group with her arm around his back.

"Can I make you anything to take back with you?" Magnus offered, trailing after Alec who looked a little unsteady on his feet, not resembling his usual self as a surefooted and agile Shadowhunter. Alec politely declined the offer, stubbornly insisting that he would be fine and that he didn't want to take up anymore of his time.

"It'll only take a moment, I have all the ingredients here" Magnus assured, looking over at his work space as he walked behind them.

"Honestly Magnus, we appreciate the gesture, we really do. But we really need to be heading back to the Institute" Jace said diplomatically as he filed them out the door. It was no wonder that they left Jace up to dealing with figures of royalty, Magnus was barely offended. "We'll look after him though" he added before he shut the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here we have the last instalment for this story. I really hope you all enjoyed reading it. **

**Let me know your favourite parts in the comments, or what you would want to see in the future.**

**Thanks for reading.**

It was clear that Alec was exhausted by the time Jace helped him into bed, he'd been leaning on Jace pretty heavily by the time they'd reached the Institute. "You're still burning" Jace said withdrawing his hand from Alec's forehead. While he pulls the covers up, Alec makes a weak attempt at trying to push them away. "You need to sweat it out" Jace commands, ignoring Alec's weak groan of protest. "Get some sleep" he says standing up and making for the door.

"Still have to plan… for the mission" Alec's fading voice stops him in his tracks and he turns around to see bright eyes shinning with fever looking back at him.

"Alec" Jace sighs, closing his eyes in a gentle kind of exasperation. "It's late" he says coming back over to sit on the edge of the bed. "We're all probably going to get to bed. Just focus on getting some rest, yeah?"

At his words Alec sighs, letting his head fall to the side as he muffles a couple of coughs into his pillow.

"Besides, I think you might have to sit this one out buddy" Jace says brushing away strands of Alec's hair that had fallen onto his face, once again feeling the heat of his fevered skin. There was no protest from Alec as he was already drifting off to sleep.

"Clary, you've got nothing good to wear" Isabelle complains, pushing around hangers in her wardrobe.

"What about this?" Clary asks, holding up a dress Isabelle had recently thrown onto the floor. It was a dark green which complemented her hair colour, with long sleeves that would hide her runes during the Warlock party, and it had a lace trim around the collar and hem which gave it the vintage feel that she liked. Isabelle only stared at her in a form of disgust as if to say 'are you kidding?' then proceeded to turn around and resume rummaging through what little clothes she had left.

As Clary carefully folded up the dress and placed it on the end of her bed the sound of footsteps stopped in the doorway.

"Jace, Clary doesn't have any good clothes" Isabelle pouts and crosses her arms looking at the figure in the doorway.

"I think most of them are okay" Jace smirks.

"_Most_ of them?" Clary repeats, but she knows where this is going. Luckily, she was saved before Jace could make a comment about how he would prefer all her clothes off, by Isabelle's phone getting a text alert.

"It's Magnus" she says looking at her phone, "he's here at the Institute. He has something for us."

"I'll go get him" Jace says already turning to leave.

"No, I'll go. I've got to go and get Clary some dresses from my room anyway." Isabelle dismisses as she walks past him out the door. "There's no way she's wearing jeans and a shirt to a Warlock party."

A faint stream of light shone through the small window in Alec's room casting strange shadows on the floor. Still waking up he blinked groggily at them trying to figure out which object in his room was casting each of them. Hearing the page of a book turn he rolls over, groaning as he realises he is caught in the tangle of his sheets.

"Izzy" his lost voice cracks as he speaks, seeing his sister in a chair which she had pulled over to the edge of his bed.

"Oh, good you're awake" she says, immediately putting her book down.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know, mid-morning sometime" she admits reaching for something on the cabinet next to her. "Drink this" she instructs, turning back to him with a vial filled with blue liquid.

"What is it?" he eyes it sceptically.

"Magnus made it for you" she says, seeming smitten on his behalf. "He came over to give it to you last night, but we thought it was best to let you sleep."

"He came last night?" was all that Alec's mind could process.

"Yeah, a little while after you'd gone to sleep" she smiles at him before she turns serious. "Now. He said that it won't cure you instantly but it will certainly help ease your symptoms" she recounts looking at the vile as if reading instructions from it, but there are no words on the glass. "It's pretty much a boost for your immune system. Add that onto the properties of Nephilim blood, you should be better in 48 hours."

With some effort Alec pushes himself up to a sitting position, still listening.

"But before I give it to you" Izzy said, holding the vile away from him to be dramatic. "It does not mean that you can get straight back into training or planning for the mission. You're still on strict bed rest until we say so, and if you try to escape Jace has promised to physically restrain you to your bed." She stares into his eyes, "deal?"

He cracks a smile at the thought of Jace restraining him to a bed, muttering to himself about how stupid Alec is. "Deal."

"Good" She nods her head. "Just to warn you, Magnus said it will probably taste disgusting."

Alec shrugs, "I've stomached your cooking."

Isabelle's mouth immediately drops open into a play look of offense. "I'm glad you still have your sense of humour."

Alec stifles a laugh which turns into a series of coughs that he muffles into his shoulder.

Isabelle smiles shaking her head. "You're pathetic" she says handing him the vile. "Bottom's up big brother, we've got a mission tomorrow night."


End file.
